Adepero Oduye
Adepero Oduye

The reason why I found acting is because my father passed away. He passed away really young. I was going to go to med school. My father's dream was that all of his kids become doctors. I realized in school I didn't like it. When he died, it was like a wake-up call. Life is too short to do something you don't want to do.

Angela Kinsey
Angela Kinsey

I got the wake-up call that no one is policing our oceans. I wondered, how can I do anything? What really can I do to make things better? There are some perks to being a celebrity. My job is to be funny once in a while, but it's my responsibility to make good use of it.

Ann Robinson
Ann Robinson

The results of this survey are shocking and should be a wake-up call to men and women that drinking and smoking too much not only gives you a bad headache in the morning but can affect your ability to start a family.

Big Freedia
Big Freedia

Everything changed after Katrina. It's a new New Orleans now and I think it's better. It was a wake-up call and it rebuilt and cleaned up the city. It all happened for a reason. I'm now grateful for Katrina.

Bill F. Walsh
Bill F. Walsh

Writers' bedtimes vary, but few have been spared the shock of a copy editor's early wake-up call.

Bill Rancic
Bill Rancic

I think every guy that hits his 40s has a little bit of a wake-up call and wants to just keep things real, as they say, and just to push yourself.

Bow Wow
Bow Wow

When I see my own people going through the tough times, it's a wake-up call. I hope my influence can impact someone else's decision to get out here and vote.

Brad Stone
Brad Stone

I don't think we yet know - because it's probably not big enough - what exactly Amazon does to our cities, but whatever it is, I don't anticipate retail wastelands. If anything, it's maybe a wake-up call to retailers that they just have to offer something meaningful to customers.

Brett Favre
Brett Favre

Because after my first year I had a lot of success, took everybody by storm, came back the next year thought it was easy and didn't have near the season I had the previous year. It was kind of a wake-up call. And so, life goes on.

Bruce Feiler
Bruce Feiler

I definitely subscribe to the idea that 9/11, to use an overused phrase, was a wake-up call. There was a year-long national teach-in on Islam - everyone read books and suddenly talked about Islam, and that was very productive. But there's no doubt that moment has passed.